Life is Not Always Like a Fairytale
by renwotac1
Summary: Everyone loves a good story…it is just that sometimes, the story becomes real – and that's when you realize that the path to the "happily ever after" is not achieved simply by a wave of a magic wand. (Tecna, Musa, Flora, Aisha, Stella, and Bloom will all be featured equally [or as equally as I can possibly achieve] in the story)
1. Summary

This story is not one of your childhood fairytales.

Sure, it has all the components of that type of story – girls, guys, fairies and other magical creatures, evil witches scattered throughout the mix, etcetera, etcetera. No, this is not one of _those_ stories.

This is not a story where the men are going to come to save the "damsel in distress" and where this so-called "damsel," (or, in this case, _damsels_) is in distress in the first place, where the witches are mean and ugly old hags, and where the magical creature(s) look like pink sugarplums who were playing around in an adolescent girl's makeup drawer before making their entrance into the story. No, in _this_ story, you can throw all that – for lack of a better word – logic out the window. I just thought I would tell you that straight up, you know, so you did not expect everything to go without a hitch, and the heroines and heroes to ride off into the sunset in the end of it all.

So, with that out of the way and without further ado, please sit back, relax, and enjoy this play on the stereotypically-correct lives of six fairytale characters and the stereotypically-incorrect lives of six normal girls – because this story is not going to be one of those tales that starts with "once upon a time" and ends with "and they all lived happily ever after."

Not in the slightest.


	2. Prologue

Back during the time of Arcadia and the first fairies, before the magical dimension looked even remotely as it does today, the people of the newly-created and ever-growing system of planets of the dimension were what we would call "primitive." Now, sure, these people were not men and women living in caves and barely surviving off of the hunt they themselves collected – no, they were much more advanced than what simple, non-magical, Earth people's knowledge of "primitive" people defines them as. In reality, these people lived in, if we were to compare their civilization to a period in Earth history, a Renaissance-like era. Just a few of their advances included that of fire, basic buildings and structures in which they lived, worked, and developed an intricate system of trade, and on some of the more advanced planets, horse-pulled carriages and paved roads, among other things necessary (as well as unnecessary in some instances) to their civilizations' continued existence. This progress was, as you might have already concluded to, all obtainable only due to the magic integrated into the dimension's creation. Unlike the Earthen time period, however, these civilizations lacked one key aspect that left them labeled as "primitive" – no _real_ system of writing had been obtained. Of course, they did have some written language, but it left a lot to be desired…in reality, it was not well taught at all, and those who did know how to decipher the complicated written language were few and scattered throughout the realm.

So, to combat this inability, they just spoke. No one exactly knows how this happened – how they were able to come up with a spoken language in the first place, that is – but they did nevertheless, and they used this way of communication to their advantage. Legends and tales were created as a way to pass answers on to their younger generations – reasons as to why the world was how it was and how it got that way in an attempt to try to explain the unexplainable, from the birth of each realm to individual events of each planet. Each of the planets, of course, had a variety of tales, both varying stories on the same event and tales unique to the planet itself. Each planet could not risk to lose such valuable assets to their society – these stories, these tales created before anyone could remember, they held the answers for much of the magical dimension's questions. This is because while many of them were false, in at least a handful of these stories, grains of truth were scattered, and these grains were what held the key to each society – their most important secrets all contained in these children's tales. These stories contained the backbones for each civilization, and without them, the civilization's most important answers would be lost. In other terms, the planets would not survive, and the magical dimension would not be as it is now.

And so, as time went on, progress occurred, and eventually, written language was created. Everyone started to value writing – specifically written literature – over these orally-passed-down stories, and the tradition slowly started to die down. The elders of each planet were worried that these stories would be lost forever due to this, so they did the only thing they could do – they embraced the change. The elders asked a young girl to help them keep these stories alive for the generations to come. Her name was Kalista; not only was she the great-granddaughter of Arcadia, the first fairy of the magical dimension, but also the Fairy of Literature, as her mother was the first Fairy of Literature of the dimension. Because of this ancestry, Kalista had great influence in the magical dimension. And most importantly, because she was the Fairy of Literature, she was both literate in the newly-created written language and well-versed in the stories of every realm, which her legendary great-grandmother had passed on to the girl at a young age.

Kalista accepted the daunting task and started to collect the stories, traveling to each and every realm to do so. Her only accompaniment was her brother Eion, who protected her and her project from those whose intentions were less than sincere and profoundly virtuous. Kalista named the book she created the Legendarium, as it was, quite literally, all of the legends created and coveted by every realm in the magical dimension compiled together into one book.

The Legendarium helped bring individuals together with its long-forgotten stories of their past that bound groups of people to one another through time and tradition alike; however, the elder fairies knew that if the book was to get into the wrong hands, it could be a dangerous weapon used against them. If one was to go so far, it could be used to ruin the world as they knew it. So, the Elder Council came together and unanimously deemed that the book be safeguarded by Kalista, now known as the Guardian Fairy of the Legendarium, and Eion in the Golden Kingdom, where both of the children, now young adults, had grown up. But, with such a powerful artifact, someone was bound to come along and try to take it away and utilize its power for the diabolical reasons the Elder Council feared it could be used for.

One of the fairies on the Elder Council, Medea, the Guardian Fairy of Cilion, was a long-time friend of Kalista and Eion. She knew exactly the level of power that the Legendarium held and coveted that mass of power for herself. This book could make her even more powerful than she was at the time and, more to the point, more powerful than Kalista, of which she was jealous.

Now, one must mind that at the time, evil witches had not been heard of to roam in the dimension, so she was considered a fairy, as Medea _did_ have magical power. That, however, did not exclude the existence of such "evil" magical beings. See, the Ancestral Witches – those being the three sisters credited as the first witches in existence in the magical dimension – were what you might call the products of years of breeding of people who had "evil" implemented in themselves, yet not enough as to account for such dastardliness as found in the infamous trio. Medea's sister, the ancestor of these witches, was also evil, and created their lineage, each descendant more dastardly than the last. The same, meanwhile, happened with Medea, though she had much more evil in herself than her sister – she was the older of the two, after all. All in all, Medea was, if you would, an "evil fairy" of sorts – the only way she was able to get her position on the Elder Council and her title as Guardian Fairy of her home realm was by putting on a show, keeping her evil bottled up for when no one was around.

Medea planned to trick her friend to get the all-powerful book and, after coming up with what she believed was a foolproof strategy, she traveled to the Golden Kingdom. Medea then, after being welcomed as a guest into Kalista's home, tricked the young and naïve girl into letting her hold the Legendarium. Once she had her hands on it, Kalista carelessly turned around, and Medea cast a spell on the large, leather-bound book, giving her and her descendants alone complete control over the book's powers. Once she had no use for the girl anymore, Medea trapped Kalista, as well as her brother and her fellow members of the Elder Council who had been called to the scene once the spell had been cast, in the Golden Kingdom and set out to destroy the other worlds.

While she did succeed in taking over some of the smaller planets of the realm, her rampage was stopped soon thereafter – the kings and queens of each of the major realms came together where the division of the Golden Kingdom and the rest of the magical dimension now lays to defeat the evildoer (or as they called her because of their lack of comprehension of the concept of evil, the "rogue fairy") once and for all. Medea fought hard with the royalty of the realms, and the battle turned into a stalemate – no one side could seem to gain the upper hand. But then, one of the younger members of the royal side had an idea – a long shot, but still, an idea. So, on a mission to gain the upper hand in this battle, the young man was sent out to the Golden Kingdom to find what he believed was the key to winning the battle – Kalista herself.

He faced many trials and tribulations, but eventually, the young man – known as Prince Antony of Placia, a small planet presently under the rule of Eraklyon – found the trapped members of the Elder Council, Eion, and Kalista. The council then teleported themselves, Kalista, Eion, and Antony to the battlefront. Medea gasped when she saw them, yet still fought valiantly against the newcomers; however, in a burst of pure convergence power, the Guardian Fairy of the Legendarium and the Elder Council sent her back to her home planet. Arcadia, the Head of the Elder Council at the time, then sealed Cilion and Medea away in another, _non__**-**__magical_ dimension forever; she named this the Realm of Adjure, as to symbolize the finalized division of the magical dimension from Cilion.

As the magical dimension recovered from Medea's destructive trail, Prince Antony and Kalista fell in love and married soon after the battle took place, becoming King and Queen of Placia; in the Golden Kingdom, meanwhile, Eion settled with his wife and became a chief member of the Elder Council, taking Medea's place. The Legendarium, the book that started this all, was never heard of again; some believe Medea took it back with her to Cilion when she was defeated, but popular opinion said that it was destroyed in the final moments of the battle. As for the "rogue fairy," after being sealed away with her planet in an adjacent dimension, Medea was never heard of again.

The elders eventually took the legends and tales Kalista and the council so carefully invested into the book and dispersed them to their originating realms. These stories became known as "fairy tales," in memory of the fairy who so precariously tried to guard the planets' tales, as well as the concurrent appearance of fairies in the tales as the main character and/or a significant part of the story. New ones were created and, along with the original stories that had somewhat changed in character and wording since their first appearance on paper, were passed down through the generations and are still read and enjoyed today.

No one knows exactly what happened thereafter to Medea and the Legendarium – they took the story of what took place between her and the magical dimension as just another legend. The story of the Legendarium and what happened to Cilion, now dubbed the Forgotten Planet, was immortalized forever in history as just another fairy tale passed down by the elders, and it served as a warning to all and, hopefully, a cautioning tale to all attempting to commit the same crime against the dimension.


	3. To Get Ready for a Party

**Hey guys! Renwotac1 here – first of all, I would like to apologize for the long wait time for the first chapter – between the upcoming holiday season and just a whirlwind of activities due to this (not that this is an excuse for such delay), I just couldn't get to finishing it (plus, a few writer's block periods did not help). Speaking of this, happy holidays, everyone!**

**Second, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and/or followed/favorited Life is Not Always Like a Fairytale so far – I cannot stress enough how awesome it feels to hear you guys like it! I hope the rest of the story is as good! **

**Thirdly, as you guys have seen, I've started off with a prologue, just to give a little background to the story and further explain what the Legendarium is exactly (because as of right now [episode 605], season six has done little, if anything, to explain the Legendarium's history). From now on, the chapters will be in one of the girls' point of views; now, I had this cool idea to have a symbol for each girl symbolizing that it was their chapter (like a flower for Flora, a music note for Musa, etc.)…but then I realized that you could not use Wingdings/symbol fonts, pictures, or symbols on the site. So, I had to return back to _'s Point of View. If you guys, however, would like to see the symbols I meant to have up, then I'm going to upload links to them and images of the girls' clothes on my profile page. **

**If you guys know how to do so, please tell me via private message/review. Anyway, please enjoy chapter one!**

**P.S. – One more thing before I say "ado" for now – I do not in any way, shape, or form own Winx Club, Nickelodeon or Nickelodeon Production Studios, or any other trademark affiliated with the three aforementioned brands whatsoever. However, I _do_ own the rights to my storyline and the ideas detailed (if a story does have similar ideas to that of mine, please tell me and I will work it out – I do not mean at all to steal anyone's ideas, just to write a story I think needs to be told). Now without any _further_ delay, please enjoy chapter one!**

* * *

**T**

"Ugh, Stella, why did I ever let you drag me here," I muttered under my breath, sitting on the edge of a large, rounded ottoman in the middle of a department store – only one of the many my friends and I have been dragged to in the last few hours. On my right, Musa, who wanted to get out of here almost as much as I did (or at least, as she had confided to me earlier, _do_ _something_ while Stella was hogging the dressing room for hours at a time), was resting her head on Aisha's shoulder. In turn, Aisha, who was almost about to fall asleep herself, had her head resting on her other shoulder. Flora, who ended up sitting next to them, kept fingering a soft, pink dress she had picked up about an hour ago and was _still_ waiting to try on; meanwhile, Bloom was attempting to watch the three shopping bags that she had let drop to her feet in utter exhaustion, as well as keep an eye on the dressing room curtain we all so desperately wished would open soon. We all know too well how long Stella takes in these matters, and unless if some kind of catastrophe occurred in which we were needed immediately if not to let the universe fall into peril, we all could clearly see were not going to be leaving anytime soon. And – the most bloodcurdling thought bore into my brain – even then, Stella might not leave. In simpler terms, we were, for lack of a better word, **doomed**.

"Ditto, Tec," I heard Musa's voice on my right; she had mumbled the phrase so only I could hear (though it wasn't that hard to do so, as Aisha was now, as far as I could tell, fast asleep, and Bloom and Flora were too caught up in their own thoughts to listen for such a low sound), picking her head up from its position on Aisha's shoulder to do so. She turned her head towards the dressing room and shouted so the six of us could hear over the bustling noise from inside the store, "Stel, how much longer is this going to take? We've been at the mall for at least two hours already, and all we have done is watch you put on over thirty different dresses and then reject each one, with _maybe_ one or two of us actually trying on something once in a while."

"Actually, as of thirty-five seconds ago, we have been in the mall for exactly three hours and fifty-one minutes," I added. This received a loud groan from Musa and Aisha – I guess she hadn't totally fallen asleep as I suspected earlier. "And Stella," I continued, "in the _**six**_ stores we have been in, you have managed to already try on forty-two dresses, whereas only two of those were ones you actually purchased." This brought forth an even louder groan from everyone (but Stella and myself, that is), which bellowed just loud enough to be heard over the pop music playing in the store. I saw some people turn in our direction to see what the noise was about, but they shortly afterwards returned to their previous actions after coming to the realization that it was nothing of significant importance to them.

A voice came from behind the navy curtain in front of us. The whiny tone (by where it came from, I deduced the voice to be Stella's) exclaimed, "well, Bloom and Flora promised they would go shopping with me for the party tonight at Alfea," Stella's face emerged from behind the curtain, confirming my suspicions, and continued focusing on the five of us, "and then I thought it'd be awesome if the rest of you guys came! We haven't gone shopping together in for_-__**ev**__-_er_-_"

"-and by forever, you really mean last we_-__**e**__-_k" Aisha interjected, slightly mocking her tone. We all started laughing, watching Stella's face turned sour for a moment, but then regain its joyful and childlike disposition almost instantaneously thereafter. It seemed like she was eternally optimistic – if only she was somewhat _real_istic, then maybe we would get out of here before the store closes tonight…

"-_**and**_," she continued, snapping me back to reality, "I thought that we should all get something new to wear – I mean, we don't get to go to a dance held in our honor every day!"

"Yeah, just _five_ days out of the last five years," Musa retorted. Everyone started laughing hysterically…well, that is, bar the head still sticking out from behind the dressing room curtain – no laughter emitted from Stella's face as she glared at Musa, who, as of this moment, was laughing uncontrollably to the point of crying. The head and long, blonde hair that rippled from under it then retreated back into the room (I believe, from the small chuckles heard from within, this was done to not show her laughter brought forth by the comment); I mean, not even she could deny that it was true. We all knew too well that ever since our sophomore year at Alfea, the freshman dance had been held in our honor, considered to be a small "thank you for saving the dimension" from the school, as Ms. Faragonda put it. Of course, most of the other girls (Stella, mainly) always adored the chance to be the center of attention; myself, on the other hand - well, I did not celebrate the concept of "a-party-held-in-your-honor" as much as she did.

"Come on Stel, _please_ come out," Bloom pleaded. "Flora really wants to try a dress on, and in case if you did not notice, we all _really_ want to go back to Alfea as soon as possible to get ready. Plus, the only other people who have actually tried on a dress today other than you have been Musa and I, and that was because _you_ found dresses for us."

"Yeah," Stella retorted, "but you guys did _buy_ those dresses, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"'But Stella' nothing – now come on, just one more dress, please?" Her response was a group of displeased moans and groans. I guess she had already expected this, because before we subsided, she added, "I'll take that as a yes!" After fiddling around a few moments longer in the dressing room (from what we could see from the four-inch gap underneath the curtain, it was to try to fit a shoe on her left foot, hopping around on the other), our blonde friend emerged from behind the curtain. The dress she wore had two layers – one of which had yellow, halter-styled straps trailing from the back of her neck to the front into a single strap and, eventually, a skirt of the same color, placed over a second, orange layer, showing only under the top single strap of the dress. It stopped a little above her knees, and was adorned with pink jewels on a large, rounded-diamond piece of fabric inset into the single strap on her chest. It was form-fitting, but hung loosely on her after the fabric reached her hips. To complete the look, Stella had taken a pair of sparkly silver heels she purchased earlier and placed them on her feet, as well as a necklace she had brought with her as "inspiration." Oh, the necklace – it was supposed to be something used to narrow down what the experienced shopper was looking for. I mean, if the dress had to go with her favorite necklace, then the choices would be narrowed down, right? To our despair, this assumption was sadly mistaken – by having the necklace there, the process was only dragged out further, as each dress was ultimately denied for being "too sparkly" or "not sparkly enough" or "not going with the necklace" or something else. I rolled my eyes at the thought – I mean, how can someone deny a dress because it does not go with a piece of jewelry? "So, how do I look?"

We all stared at it for a few moments, taking in the dress. I really could not judge it – I mean, I'm not exactly the most "up-to-date" person on fashion – that's Stella's niche, not mine. The other girls started nodding in approval – Bloom, then Flora, then Musa and Aisha – so I followed suit. Bloom got up and took a few steps towards Stella, stating when she reached her, "it looks great on you, Stel, but now could we _please_ let Flora try on her dress and then get ready to _leave_?"

"Um, well, I don't know. Does the necklace _really_ go with the dress? I'm not so sure it does…"

Flora abruptly stood up and walked over to the small group, standing on the leftmost side of it. She calmly looked to the right of her and expressed, "Stella, sweetie, your necklace looks perfect with that dress. I think that if you like it so much, you should get it and wear it – as long as you think it is amazing, that's what matters. Now, could I _please_ go and try this dress on?"

She reluctantly stepped aside, away from the front of the dressing room, and nodded in Flora's direction. Flora, in turn, entered the small "room" along with the pink dress. After a few seconds had passed (5.3, by my calculations), Bloom returned to her original seat, while Stella took Flora's place on the circular cushion Musa, Aisha, and I were all still sitting on. She started to pull the silver heels off her feet as her voice rang out after the brief silence. "Why do we have to leave, though, after Flora tries her dress on? I mean, I saw this beautiful jacket while I was looking through the racks that would look ah-_dorable_ on me, and-"

"Stella, don't you think you have tried on _**enough**_ today?" Musa looked at her in disbelief. I did the same – I mean, was I really hearing that after forcing us to sit through about five hours of her shopping for one dress, she wanted to put us through _more_ torture by going at the racks _again_? I just shook my head – as I thought before, we were doomed to stay here until someone (literally) dragged our "fashion-guru" out of the mall.

"_**NO**_, Musa, you can _**never**_ try on too many clothes!" We broke out into another laugh despite the death glares we each got for doing so. I can just imagine the dire, desolate situation burning into her mind (the 95.4% possibility of this kept my head shaking in disbelief).

"Plus," she continued, "Aisha and Tecna haven't gotten anything for the party yet." I froze when she said this – oh no, here we go again. I am _**not**_ letting Stella choose my outfit _again_. I don't doubt that she would find something great, but I did not exactly want to get a new dress for just one party; I'm perfectly comfortable with my wardrobe the way it is. I looked to Aisha at the same moment she looked in my direction – her face told me she was thinking the exact same thing I was.

"That's because I do not _want_ a new outfit that I am just going to wear once and then throw to the back of my closet for eternity," Aisha responded turning away from me and towards Stella. She sounded annoyed (most likely meaning she was perturbed by the fact that Stella thought every event needed new clothes to go with it).

I decided to chime into the conversation, hoping that I could deter her from the thought. "And Stella," I started, "not everyone needs to buy a new outfit for every event they go to – I mean, it's illogical. Like Aisha said, this party is going to last five hours of our entire lives, if that, and, to tell you the truth, it will probably not really even matter in the larger scope of life."

My words apparently struck something in her, because the gasp that came from Stella's mouth at this could be heard clear throughout the store. Patrons and employees alike stared at us as she stuttered out of her visibly-shocked mouth, "d-d-d-does…n-n-not…m-m-ma-matter? H-h-how c-could you s-s-say such a th-th-thing?" I'd say it was this point at which Stella realized that she, now standing up and towering over our petrified faces, was the center of attention of the shoppers and store employees around her. "S-sorry, n-n-nothing to see here, folks," she smiled, trying to cover up the embarrassment spreading across her face. They all hesitated, then once again returned to their shopping. Stella's voice lowered significantly as she whispered just so we could hear, "how could you say such a thing, Tec? What a person wears is the most important thing you must focus on when going to a party – if you…if you wear some outfit that…that you have already worn, or worse…that…that just…just looks…wrong, then…you'll be, like, breaking a rule of fashion or something!"

I sat there dumbfounded by her statement. Sure, I had come to terms a long time ago with the fact that Stella was always going to prize fashion over anything else, but never had I thought it to be to this extent. After regaining my composure, I reiterated this to her. "I mean, it is somewhat important, but you don't realize how illogical you are by saying that? Come on, someone else must realize that fashion's not _everything_, right?" Musa and Aisha, in unison, both shook their heads in agreement almost immediately, and after a few seconds of hesitation, Bloom did so as well.

"Yeah, well…but-" Before Stella could elaborate, however, Flora came out of the dressing room wearing the pink, sleeveless dress she had been waiting to try on. It featured a straight neckline and a sparkly, sheer, pink layer over another layer underneath of a solid pink material. The front of the dress stopped at her knees, while on the sides, it descended slightly from the front area, stopping in the back at her ankles. A silver belt came around her waist, and a light-green bow with an emerald-green gem inset into it bound the two ends of the belt together on the left side of her body. All in all, the dress was simple, yet elegant, and looked amazing on her. All at once, we expressed this, then laughed once more at our synchronized response.

"Thanks, guys," Flora expressed, laughing along with us, "I really like the dress, too." She turned around from the mirror to look at us, the dress floating behind her.

"Flora, dawling, you look great!" I don't think I need to specify who exclaimed that statement – the signature "dawling" speaks for itself. "But, you know, don't you think this is a little bit simple? I saw this just _ah-_mazing dress that would be _so_ much better-"

"Stella!" We all screamed at her (again, in unison). Her face returned a message to the tune of _what did I do __now__?_

"Give her a break, Stel – the dress is perfect" Bloom answered her without the question being vocalized. "Now come on, let's pay for those dresses and _get going_!"

"But, I want to look some more, and what about the other girls, and, oh look – there's a sale going on at the store next to this one, and-"

"Come on, Stel," Musa dryly interrupted her. She grabbed onto her arm and, using all of her strength, pulled Stella in the direction of the register.

"B-bu-but-" She tried to fight her, but Musa's grip was too strong. We paid for the dresses and, with one bag in each of our hands except for Aisha and myself, who had two each (though we, ironically enough, hadn't bought anything the entire day) exited the store. Then, after eating at a cafe down the street from the mall and waiting while Musa went into a store to confirm the DJ for the party tonight and Stella (big surprise) gaped at some more shop windows, we boarded the next bus out of Magix and headed back to Alfea.

* * *

"Come on guys, _please_?" Stella's voice rang out in our dorm's common room pleading the same thing she had been for exactly the fifty-fourth time since we had gotten back to Alfea. Ever since we stepped onto the bus and Stella got the "great" idea of _**herself**_ making us outfits for tonight, we had been trying to dodge her requests, which were getting louder and more overemotional and persistent by the minute. The others had decided to go and help out with the decorations for the party (to, I presume, get away from Stella's nonstop complaining); we, however, were stuck up here will the Queen of Fashion herself. I was hoping that ignoring her would stop the complaining, but such prattle persisted, as my 94.8% statistics leaning in such an outcome's favor had predicted – I knew I shouldn't have ignored my statistics.

"No," Aisha subconsciously responded, not even looking up from the book she was reading on the couch to do so.

"_Please_? For me? "

"Not happening."

"_Pretty __**please?**_"

"Again, no."

"Pretty, _pretty_ please?"

"Yet again, no."

"Pretty, pretty _please_ with a pink-silk-bow on top?"

"For the fourth time in the last two minutes, Stella, not going to happen." Actually, it had been the fourth time in the last minute and thirty-seven seconds (to avoid contributing to the conversation, I took up counting how long their response times between each question and answer took).

"Come on guys, _**PLEASE?**_ I really need the practice, and I have some great ideas for dresses that would look _awesome_ on you guys, and as you both said, it would only be one night, so you could handle it, and-"

Aisha turned her head away from her book and towards the Solarian princess, now perked up from her original position on a couch behind where Aisha sat in our dorm's common room. "Stella, if I let you make me a dress for tonight, would you please **BE QUIET?**"

"OF COURSE!" Stella ran over to Aisha and gave her a hug from behind, much to Aisha's surprise and annoyance. "I just knew you'd say yes! Now what about you, Tec?" I guess she did not forget about me – that makes it me-zero, statistics-two. Ugh, sometimes, I wish my statistics were not as infallible as they are (though they can't be, because my statistics are _**not**_ faulted).

"Stella, you know I am really busy with homework, and-"

"Oh, but please, Tecna? We don't have that much to do, and I'm sure you are done with any and all homework and studying already, and please, just this one thing for me? Just this one, little, _teensy_-_weensy_ favor?"

"But-"

"Tec, you know she's not going to give up," Aisha added in; yes, I know that, but I was trying somewhat to avoid that reality as much as possible.

"I know, but-"

"Please, just this one, itty-bitty favor for a friend? You know how much practice I need if I'm to become a famous designer someday, and, well…_**please**_?" I then I realized that I was not going to win this battle and, more so, that I would have to accept an inevitable defeat – ugh, this next hour or so is going to be _excruciatingly_ long.

"Fine, but-"

"Yes, yes, YES! I just knew you would see it my way! Come on, let's start right now – I already have _so_ many ideas in mind!" After hugging me as she did Aisha (of which I am not appreciative, by the way), she dragged us upstairs to our newly-added loft space, which she had turned into her own little "fashion studio." I have to admit, it did look good up there; however, I wish that Stella had asked any of us if we had wanted a part of the space before taking it all up as her own.

"Okay, first, let me create the dress structure…" Stella started drawing on pieces of paper the designs; after a few minutes of doing so, however, Musa, Flora, and Bloom walked up the stairs. I'd assume either that the decorating was completed, or they believed that the complaining would have stopped – and while I cannot speak to the first choice, as to the latter, I can safely say that it has ceased (for now, at least).

Musa was the first to get up to the area. "Hey guys, we finished decorating and-" she stopped dead in her tracks after seeing the scene before her (and, most likely, already predicting what it meant). "What are you guys doing?"

"Well, since we had to leave the store early, I thought I would just make them dresses for the party tonight!" From their expressions (or, rather, lack thereof), I cannot say that Musa, or any of the girls for that matter once they got upstairs and heard about our fate, looked exactly surprised that we had been persuaded into giving in to her demands.

"You mean you _begged_ and _pleaded_ us to _let_ you make us dresses for tonight," Aisha corrected her.

"Yeah, well…" I guess she couldn't think up another excuse for this, because after thinking on the subject for a minute, she completely changed it. "How about we get into our dresses first, so we'll all be ready for the party?" Before the others could protest, a loud _snap!_ was heard throughout the space, and in the next moment, Bloom, Flora, Stella and Musa stood there, each wearing the gowns they had purchased earlier on. Bloom's dress, reaching just above her knees, flowed out from her waist; it featured a crisscross halter neckline with a small, triangular hole below where the straps crossed and three sparkly, pink flaps coming from the left side of the waist and falling over the bottom half of the dress. The blue fabric that showed under these flaps and in the top half of the dress were disconnected due to a triangular slit in the dress, starting at the place where the flaps attached and getting wider as it moved to the right. Musa's dress, meanwhile, looks nothing like Bloom's – strapless and mainly solid red with minor gold accents laced into the bodice, the dress looked like a party dress, expanding outwards at the waist and featuring a sweetheart neckline at the top. It had additions on the top and bottom of the dress of pink crinoline and was bound at the waist by a thick, gold belt. Flora and Stella, of course, were also wearing the dresses they bought at the mall earlier.

All of these dresses, nevertheless, had a few "adjustments" to them (no doubt Stella's doing). Each was paired with a necklace with a pendent representing their power (Bloom's being a flame encompassed by a silver heart, Stella's a golden sun and silver moon, Flora's a four-petal flower with pink and green gems inset into [respectively] the petals and leaves/stem, and Musa's a treble clef note with a pink gem in the middle swirl). Of course, she also took this opportunity to pair some accessories of ours with the dresses, like a gold treble clef note pin on the right of the gold belt on Musa's dress.

"And now for you guys." Stella turned back to Aisha and myself, staring at us to, I believe, come up with a dress in her mind for each of us. Then, with another _snap!_, a bright light engulfed us both, and a few moments later, disappeared. I looked at Aisha first before looking at myself, being that I was, to be quite frank, a bit afraid of what dress Stella's brain concocted for me. I must admit, it looked good on her – the one-shouldered dress with a dipped neckline stopped a few inches above her knees; it featured a layer of Caribbean blue fabric on top and bottom laying underneath a sheer, light-green fabric, and was bound at her waist by a thick, silver waistband. Just like the other girls, a pendant necklace – hers featuring a silver swirl inside a circle inset with pink gems – hung from her neck. After looking down at her own dress, then my own, and taking both in, we looked up and smiled at one another in coordination; it was then that I gathered enough courage to look at the dress Stella had created for me. I expected…well, I don't exactly know what I expected, yet whatever it was, it was not what I was greeted with. In place of my purple-and-green midriff-bearing shirt and skirt was a dress similar to those of the other girls (being that it flowed out from my waist, defined by a thin, lime-green line); however, it definitely did not look like any of theirs otherwise. Consisting of a sheer, swirly purple fabric making "sleeves" and top of the dress, the neckline came up almost to my neck. Another defined neckline dipping slightly in the middle farther down was also present, defined by the start of a solid purple layer under the swirly fabric. This swirly pattern underneath the solid purple layer continued throughout the rest of the dress until it stopped at my knees. I looked up after quickly scanning the dress, and smiled at the other girls in approval. "So, what do you guys think?"

"They looked great, Stella," Aisha exclaimed.

"Yeah," I added, "thank you."

"You're welcome, dawlings," Stella emphasized. "I must admit, I did an amazing job."

"The humble designer, aren't you," Musa joked.

"Absolutely!" We all burst out in laughter. If there was one thing Musa knew how to do outside of the realm of music, it was how to be witty and sarcastic at the best times. I imagine this is one of the many reasons as to why our great friendship is so surprising.

"I guess we'd better finish getting ready," Bloom interjected after we gained our composure (for the most part).

While we all nodded in agreement, Flora added, "I agree with Bloom – the party is going to start in an hour or so-"

"AN HOUR!" We all cringed at the audacity and volume of the sound emitting from Stella's mouth (especially Musa, who heard it doubly as loud due to her supersonic hearing). "I HAVE TO GET READY! I HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH MY SKIN RITUALS YET, AND I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ALL MY ACCESSORIES TOGETHER YET, AND WHAT ABOUT MY HAIR-"

"Calm down, sweetie. We still have enough time to get ready." I would have thought that Flora's calm, nonchalant voice would have calmed the Solarian princess down somewhat – of course, that assumption, too, was wrong.

"I have to go start _immediately_!" Blonde hair swooshed around as she swiftly exited the room, slightly pushing the other Winx out of the way to get down the flight of stairs and into her bedroom. We followed her down the stairs, lightly chuckling at the hasty exit, and each of us dispersed into our own rooms.

I followed Musa past a pair of green French doors into our shared dorm room – the sight brought back all of the memories we had had in here together, from nights on end up studying to coming up with ways to defeat the Trix/other villains of the magical dimension to, well, helping each other get ready for parties like this one; in turn, my mouth formed a small smile. In a moment, however, I was heading for the bathroom to further analyze the dress. When I looked into the mirror, I saw the same outfit I had when I first glanced at it upstairs, though with one exception – on my neck, same as with the other girls, was a necklace that was just high enough to be out of my peripheral vision. A small, purple diamond gem was inset into the middle of a larger, silver diamond, while two swirls came down from the bottom facing outwards, a circular, green gem inserted at the end of each. It was definitely unlike I would have thought up for myself (minus the purple diamond); nevertheless, I liked it – I thought I went well with the dress and my personality.

My thoughts were interrupted by Musa's voice coming from our bedroom. "Tec?"

"Yes, Musa?"

"I think you got a new message on your phone." I quickly left the bathroom and in a "fast-walk" of sorts moved towards my desk, where I had put it after getting back in from our shopping trip this morning (and afternoon, as we left Magix on the 6:42 p.m. bus after getting out of the mall and finishing dinner). Musa was right – my phone, playing one of our band's songs that I had picked out for my ringtone, had a message flashing across the screen, indicating a new message.

"Thanks." I brought the phone over to my bed. After pressing a button, the message came up on the screen:

_**FROM**__: Timmy_

_**MESSAGE**_ _**RECEIVED**__: 7:28 p.m._

_Hey, Tecna! We just left Red Fountain with the Hovercraft and will be at Alfea in about 8.53 minutes. _

"Who texted you, Tec?"

I looked up at Musa, her headphones now around her neck in anticipation for my response; I paraphrased the message, saying, "Timmy – he wanted to tell me that the boys just left Red Fountain and will be here soon."

"Then we'd better start getting Stella going now." I nodded in agreement, a chuckle escaping both of our mouths.

"I'll be right there." Musa nodded her head as she exited the room through the green doors we had entered by. After she left, I took my phone and hit **REPLY**. Then, I typed a message into the screen:

_Hey, Timmy! We are just leaving our dorm room (once we can get Stella out of her room) – see you guys in 5.34 minutes!_

Then, my finger pressed **SEND**, and the message disappeared from the screen. I placed the phone on my desk again and, subsequent to putting on my shoes (a pair of simple, short purple heels), I exited the room from the same door Musa did. When I walked out into the common room, Musa was sitting in front of me – I'd presume that Aisha did not have anything else to do after our group had separated into our dorm rooms or that she had done it in the time it took both of us to get ready, because she too was sitting on one of the couches in the common room, talking to Musa.

"Hey, Tec," Aisha, who was on the couch facing our dorm room's door, greeted me, causing Musa to turn around.

"Hey," I responded. Turning to Musa, I added, "so, how are we going to get the other girls going? By my estimations, the boys will be here in 5.23 minutes."

"How about I'll go get Flora and Bloom while you guys try to pry Stella off her makeup kit?" We all burst into laughter – is it just me, or are we laughing a lot today? Musa and I, after nodding at the plan, walked towards a pair of doors with a sun and moon etched into the glass panels.

Just before Musa was to turn the knob, however, a voice came from inside, "I AM NOT READY YET! DO NOT COME IN!"

"Stella, the guys are going to be here-" I started, only to be shushed by Musa next to me. She put a finger over her mouth and waited.

"What happened?"

Musa took five large steps back from the door; I followed suit, somewhat anticipating what her next move might be. In a soft voice (yet not too soft for others to not hear), Musa stated, "oh, the Specialists just got here? Well then, we'd better get going…"

"WAIT FOR ME!" Almost instantaneously thereafter, Stella emerged from behind the doors, almost running into us in her hastiness to go see Brandon and the guys. With only one shoe on and half of her makeup done, she frantically looked from left to right. At the sight, Musa broke out in hysterics, almost laughing herself to the point of choking; I, meanwhile, just shook my head in acceptance – typical Stella. The other three girls ran out to see what had gone on upon hearing the commotion (of course, they joined in laughing after assessing and realizing the situation). "Hey! Why did you interrupt my rituals?"

I answered, "Because the guys just told us they will be here in 8.53 minutes, meaning we should be down there…" I calculated the answer on my phone (subtracting Timmy's estimated time of arrival with the time now, then factoring in the time it would take us to get down there), "…now."

"Okay! Just give me a minute-" Stella ran back into her room and, after finishing putting on the rest of her makeup and grabbing the other shoe, ran back in. "Let's go see my shnookums!" Stella hopped out of the room attempting to place the shoe on her foot and simultaneously walking, with Musa and Aisha smirking and the rest of us just sighing at her…"_selective_" order of priorities. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Come on!"

Sighing heavily, I followed the other girls out of the room, closed the door behind me, and walked down the Alfea corridors to the quad in front of the school (where they had decided to hold the party this year), though I lagged a bit behind the other girls. _Wow,_ I thought to myself, _it feels great to just relax with the Winx for one night – no schoolwork to finish, no tests to study for, and no Trix or Tritannus or other evil body trying to destroy the dimension. _I chucked slightly at the thought of such a statement in realizing the irony of it. _Man, do I sound illogical (well, not in the last point, at least – it would not take much for someone to realize that we don't always appreciate being the only six people standing in the way of evil and the total destruction and oppression of the dimension – but definitely with the schoolwork-aspects of it. I would have never guessed before I came to Alfea that just six short years later, I would have thought up such a thing without any qualms about it. All my life, I am exposed to no emotion whatsoever, being treated like, for lack of a better word, a robot for my childhood and early adolescent years, and getting molded into a computer basically (not that that was different or anything, being a Zenithian), and yet, now emotion comes freely to me. Well, maybe not as freely as the other girls, but I can show it, without fear of the consequences Zenith enforces for doing so (trust me, if the other girls knew Zenith's policy on emotion, they would be speechless [even Stella]). I mean, sure, it's still a constant battle – I'm not, as of yet, used to such powerful feelings, even after six years of developing them – but it still an improvement from what the other girls back on Zenith called me (something to the tune of "Robo-Tec" [not that their opinion mattered to me, as most of them valued clothes over brains]). _

By this time, we had gotten down to the quad; most of the girls were down there already, and the Red Fountain Specialists were just arriving when we reached the large, grassy area. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw five men (okay, maybe "men" is not the right term to use for them) coming our way; the rest of the girls noticed and looked in the same direction. Immediately recognizing the characters walking towards us in full Red Fountain garb, we ran to meet them. Or, should I say, Stella ran – up to and into Brandon, both of them falling, as Stella would say, "head-over-heels" on top of one another – with the rest of us left to pull them to their feet afterwards. Then, the two hugged and shared a passionate kiss – a little bit of an exaggerated gesture, if you ask me (no offense to either of them). The other girls, too, went up to and embraced their boyfriends; Sky picked Bloom up and spun her around, kissing her in the process, Flora and Helia hugged and shared a small kiss, and Riven and Musa also hugged (and, based on Riven's reaction to the other guys' displays of affection and Musa's elbowing him in the stomach, argued a bit) with one another – Aisha and I, however, were left to just stand there awkwardly. I looked around for Timmy, but after not seeing him, came to the conclusion he was probably on the ship. After smiling to Aisha, I left to go onto the Hovercraft. Timmy was still at the controls and was in the middle of something on the control board.

"Hey, Timmy," I stated (awkwardly, if you asked me).

"H-hey, Tecna," Timmy turned around, still a bit visibly startled by my sudden appearance onto the ship (maybe he thought we were still trying to get Stella out of her room – I would have).

I walked over to him, staring intently at the green screen below, featuring the ship's general statistics, as well as its tracking system on the upper-left portion of the screen. "What are you doing?"

"Just reconfiguring the ship's on-board logistics – on the way over here, Riven accidentally crashed into a tree, and I just want to make sure we did not mess up any of the ship's configurations before leaving tonight."

I looked at him in disbelief. "Wait – you guys let Riven drive?" The memory of the last time we got into a Red Fountain ship under Riven's command still leaves my stomach unsettled – I'm surprised the guys made it here unscathed.

"I didn't, but the other guys made a bet, and Riven won." He chuckled slightly (probably doing so while reminiscing the contest in his mind). "Let's just say that Sky is never betting with Riven about his stealth skills again." I stifled a laugh as Timmy returned to the ship's controls. Then, in an attempt to alleviate the period of silence that ensued thereafter, I put my elbow on his shoulder; responsively, he looked my way as I did the same. We nervously laughed at one enough, each of us realizing the awkwardness of this situation. "Um…" he started, "I…I like your dress."

I looked down at it, then chuckled and shook my head in realization of that small fact. "Thanks – Stella wouldn't stop whining until Aisha and I let her make us each a dress for the party tonight – you don't know how persistent she can be sometimes."

"Maybe not with her, but if she's anything like Sky, Riven, and Brandon, then I know what you mean more or less." We both laughed. _It feels great to have someone to understand me,_ I thought. _I mean, Musa is my best friend and always is there for me…but it just feels great to have Timmy to talk to and understand me. _

"So, I guess we should go and join the others." Timmy's voice brought me back to reality; I nodded and followed him out of the ship. Once we got out of the ship door (which was still open until Timmy remembered to close it after we got out), I realized that the other girls had, by now, had walked over to one of the tables, doing what would seem to anyone from an outside view as normal for our group – Stella was fixing her dress, Sky and Bloom were talking with one another, Flora was sitting in the grass and talking with Helia (I'd assume Stella was a bit peeved by that), Brandon and Riven were arguing, and Aisha and Musa were laughing at the argument. _Sometimes, I don't know how I got stuck with these guys_, I thought to myself as we walked towards them. Timmy walked next to me with his hand at his side; I took his hand in mine, and we smiled at one another. _And sometimes, I don't know how I became so lucky to get stuck with them. _

When we got to where the other girls were, we just sat down and started talking – eventually, Musa joined in, yet left once the music started. I just smiled to myself when Timmy started to tell me what Riven had done to get control of the ship on the way here (a position that Timmy, a _safe_ driver that wouldn't have crashed into a tree, usually held) – for no real reason, ironically enough. My mind whirled around the one thought going through my mind and, though it was so illogical, I totally accepted it:

_I wouldn't give this up for anything – in one word, this is perfect._

* * *

**Wow – 6,795 words (without author's notes). I knew I wrote a lot in general, but for this chapter, I just kept going…and going…and going…until I realized I was at nine pages and not even done yet with where Stella makes Aisha's and Tecna's dresses. This definitely sets the standard for the story – hey, I was striving for 4000 – 4500 words (a limit that will probably now be upped to 5500 - 7500, seeing where chapter one lies on the scale). **

**Anyway, what did you guys think? I wanted to do this chapter in Tecna's point of view just because she's my favorite and, I believe, the most underused character of the series. I just thought that in my story, if I was going to do it and sleep at night, then I was going to do so with a few lines for each person – sorry, but this is _not_ going to be a story focused on Bloom (not saying that she's not going to be important to the story, as all six girls and six guys are [just something for you guys to think about…]) or any of the girls, for that matter. Either way, I hope you guys have liked it so far and that you'll like the next chapter!**

**Please comment, review, and suggest! I'm eager to hear what you guys have to say! I'll try to get chapter two up as soon as possible! **


	4. A Cause for Celebration

**Finally, chapter two is done! I'm so sorry that it takes me so long to upload, but I've been really busy lately (both with other stories on this site and life in general), so getting around to my story has taken a little while, though I know this doesn't at all justify my sporadic updating. Anyway, this author's note is going to be short, but before I let the chapter start, I just want to say thank you so much to all those who have read the story so far, and to TecnaBelievix, PierceTheVeils, NewQueen2012, ThoseSweetNothings, and Musa'sHeadphones for reviewing, favoring, and/or following this story – your guys' feedback is especially appreciated! **

**Also, to answer one of the questions I received via a review, this is more so different version of what might happen in season 6. I don't want to give anything away, but as stated in the prologue, the Legendarium is in this story, so some parallels will be made between season six and this story, but it won't have things like "Bloomix" featured. Basically, everything in season 6 is null and void according to this story; the other seasons, however, are not. **

**Now, on to chapter two! I hope you guys like it! **

* * *

**A**

The sky was a deep shade of blue, only to be broken by the billions upon billions of luminous stars present tonight; these were only contested by the lights flashing around us, the "sound of nature" blocked out even to Flora with the blasting music and the laughter that broke up the moans and groans of the incoming school year. From above, I'm sure one could see the joyous celebration occurring below for miles around.

Stella, Musa, and I were taking all full advantage of this beautiful night – we, along with Brandon and Riven, were dancing away on the dance floor as if we had no care in the world, and why should we; we've just defeated Tritannus, so a little fun, I think, is a requirement. We've now gone up and won against the Lord Darkar, Valtor, the Wizards of the Black Circle, Tritannus, and the Trix (four times, might I add), and to say the least, this time of peace and freedom from the clutches of evil was welcomed by all of us with open arms.

Suddenly, the song previously on faded out, and a new one came on. With the song change, I took a moment to look around the grounds. Then, I saw out of the corner of my eye six familiar faces – Flora, Bloom, and Tecna, along with Helia, Sky, and Timmy, were talking (probably about our recently-finished adventure…or Stella's meltdown today about what we would be wearing) and, more importantly, _not_ _dancing_ with the rest of us on the dance floor. My eyes turned to the girls next to me, and they, too, were looking at the scene. I could tell our ideas were mutual; we each shared devious smiles as we made our way over to the other girls, Musa and Stella dragging Riven and Brandon, respectively, behind them.

They were all sitting around a large table to the left of the dance floor, surely unaware that in a moment, they would be up dancing with us. Sky was talking as we walked over there. All I could hear of the conversation was, "-but now that it's all over, and we're all together-"

Musa interrupted him, saying, "speaking of all together…" Everyone turned around to look at us and smiled at our appearance.

"Hey," Bloom greeted us, "all done dancing?"

I chuckled at her assumption. Yeah, right – they all knew that we were not done dancing yet, nor would be for quite some time. "On the contrary," I informed them, "we've come to get you guys." Their facial expressions told us that they knew exactly what I was talking about; the guys, however, were still a bit confused. I guess Stella noticed, too.

"Guys, we've finally gotten Sirenix, beaten Tritannus and the Trix _again_, and saved the whole magical dimension for the _**kagillionth**_ time!"

"It's only the fifth, Stella," Tecna interrupted our over-dramatic friend in a monotonous, somewhat matter-of-fact-like tone. The blonde rolled her eyes at the comment, and we all started to laugh.

"Come on," Musa got out after she was done laughing. "Tonight's the first night we've been able to relax in the last couple of months – let's party!" She, too, was trying to coax our friends into joining us on the dance floor (hey, at least she was getting somewhere, unlike Stella's attempt).

"You guys go on," Flora responded. "We'll get up in a few minutes." Yeah, right – I have known you guys for enough time now to know that the only way you six will get up is with a bit of…"_persuading_."

A smug smile grew on my face as I placed my hands on my hips. "Oh, no you're not! You are all coming right now!" As if on cue, Stella, Musa, and I grabbed Bloom's, Tecna's, and Flora's hands, all of which were conveniently in plain sight, and pulled them up; then, we dragged them towards the dance floor. A little resistance was met at first, but eventually that faded as we inched closer to the middle of the quad, the guys following behind us as to create a "barrier" in case if the girls did run back to the table. The eleven of us started dancing to the song (though I can't say I'd heard of it before). .

About four songs after we all joined the dance floor, Musa walked away for a second. I could barely see her, but from what I could see while on the tips of my feet, she walked over to the DJ booth and took something out of her pocket – wait, her dress has _pockets?_ – and handed whatever it was to the DJ. She whispered something in his ear, and returned to us as if nothing ever happened about a minute or two later.

"What was that about?" The question, directed at Musa, came out of Bloom's mouth.

She didn't need to respond because a moment later, her actions made sense – the song previously on changed to one quite familiar to us all. One of our favorites, in fact; it was one we created and performed together during our Winx-band days back in Gardenia. I smiled at the song, but then bit down on my lip in remembrance. I mean, don't get me wrong, the song was one of my favorites, and the memories at Gardenia were all good, but…

I looked over to the other girls. A bit of chaos had erupted as I was thinking to myself due to a small argument between Tecna and Flora, who had wanted to go back and sit down for a while away from the dancing and limelight, and Stella. Hey, I didn't blame them – everyone kept coming up to us and taking about how we beat Tritannus once and for all – though I didn't think they were going anywhere soon if Stella, who never got why anyone wouldn't want to bask in the limelight every change they got, had anything to do with it. I looked at them and, realizing they were totally and utterly preoccupied with the ensuing situation, took off stealthily towards the front gates of Alfea.

My feet ran briskly through the dense forest just past the Alfea gates; eventually, yet suddenly, I stopped at the base of a tree, only to place my semi-exposed back to its bark and slowly slide down to its base. I sat up against it, my legs to the side of me, and conjured up my cellphone with a short incantation the girls taught me the year I came to Alfea. After pressing a few buttons, a holographic picture jumped up from the screen. Its sudden appearance did not scare me, rather forced a tear that had at some time formed in my eye to fall down the left side of my face. I didn't stop it. More came, and more were shed as I stared at the picture. I cried silently as I looked at the transparent image of a boy, his hair still braided the same way it had been the last time I saw him in real life.

"Oh, Nabu, I miss you so much." _Yeah, _I thought to myself, _it's kind of pathetic, me talking to a hologram, but right now I really couldn't care less. _Between sobbing and talking to the picture, I was about as broken as you could get. _I wanted to use my Sirenix wish to bring you back…but I knew that I had to bring back my cousin Neraus – I...I…I j-just had to. I wish I could see you again. _I chuckled nervously, coming to terms with one fact that had been haunting me for the past week. _You…you know, it's been exactly t-two years and three months since that day, and I still can't get over it. Oh, Nabu, I…I just want to see you, once more. Just once more, so I can say goodbye…_

Just then, a rustle came from the bushes behind me. I quickly deactivated the hologram and tried to wipe away the tears from my eyes.

"Hey, Aisha," Flora's kind voice came from behind one of the shadowy bushes, "are you alright?"

She had come around to where I sat; I tried passing off a smile to my best friend when she appeared a foot or so from my face, crouching on the balls of her feet. "Yeah, I just am a little down right now. I'll get over it. Why don't you guys go back to the party? I'll be there in a minute or two." I tried my best not to cry. Now that I have known them all for five years, I could tell exactly what they were thinking – and that they were not buying one bit of it.

"It's okay, Aisha," Musa joined her in front of me and placed her arm on my shoulder, "we're all here for you." Her consoling nature reminded me of one miniscule fact I had forgotten – they were just as aware of the anniversary of Nabu's death as I was (maybe even more).

"I…I just miss Nabu so much, and knowing I could have brought him back with my Sirenix wish is, well...I guess it's just been a lot for me to deal with." At this time, I turned around to see that not only they, but all of the girls were there, saddened looks on their faces. They boys kept their distance, but I could see them farther back hiding (or, should I say, _trying_ to hide) behind some trees about fifty feet away.

"Aisha, we're all here for you, no matter what. Just remember that; we'll all help you to get through it. I know what it's like, from me losing my mom…" Musa paused for a second, allowing herself to wallow in her grief for but a moment before continuing, "…but just don't forget, we're all here for you, no matter what." I looked at her, a tear and hope both intermixed in her eyes. Then, I looked behind her; all of the other girls had supportive looks on their faces in accordance with her message. I weakly smiled at their encouragement and support.

"Thanks, Musa. You're always such a great friend." I took Musa's hand, which was now outstretched to me, and she pulled me to my feet. I hugged her, and in a few seconds, all of the other girls came around us to form a group hug. Suddenly, a bright light came from between Musa and I; I covered my eyes to shield them, and from nowhere, a golden starfish bedecked with five jewels of varying colors on its ends and numerous pearls surrounding the outside appeared in Musa's hands, opening to reveal an iridescent, mermaid-like creature.

"Guardian of Sirenix," Musa exclaimed with great shock, her words coming out with the exhale of her breath. She hadn't expected her to pop up like that, nor did anyone else, as shown by their shocked reactions. "What are you doing here?"

The melodic voice replied, "I am here to grant you your Sirenix wish."

"But, I-"

The Guardian interrupted her before she could finish the sentence. "You love for your friends, as well as your past efforts and accomplishments against Tritannus and the Trix, have pleased the Sirenix guardians, Musa. They have decided to now grant you your wish."

"Um…c-could I have a minute or two to decide?"

"Of course."

Musa turned around and handed the box to Riven, who had walked behind her sometime in the last minute or so. The other girls and I, in turn, walked about twenty steps to the right and huddled together. I rested my right elbow on Flora's left shoulder, while allowing Musa's hand to rest on my back and left shoulder.

"What are you doing, Musa? I thought you wanted to wish for your mother to be back." Bloom's question was mutual – we were all wondering what exactly Musa was doing…well, at least, I was, and I'm pretty sure the other girls were as well. She had had her wish picked out even before I had; what in the world was she thinking?

"I know, but, um…I'm thinking I might want to use it to bring Nabu back instead." We all gasped. Our faces were consumed with shock at her response. I mean, from the time she had learned of the Sirenix wish, all Musa could think about was bringing back her mother. _Was she now going to choose against her greatest wish for me? Nabu could come back…but, no, I can't. That is just not right – it's Musa's wish, so her mother should come back. I __**cannot **__let her go through with this. _

I tried voicing this to her. "But, Musa, you can't. It's your wish, and you have been telling us since the beginning that you've wanted to bring back your mother."

"Yeah, but you lost Nabu due to the Wizards of the Black Circle last year, and it doesn't seem right to use my wish to bring back someone who I barely remember when I could bring back Nabu, one of ours and the guys' best friends and your fiancé. It makes me feel so bad when I see you longing for Nabu to be there when the guys come to see us." My heart dropped when she used the word _fiancé_. _I…I r-remember when he proposed, even, every single word_ – tears began to well up in my eyes again.

"Musa, I…no, I just can't let you do it. Please, bring back your mother – it's your wish, not mine." My heart fell again, and my head came to rest and cry on Flora's shoulder. I didn't care anymore if the others saw me or not; I just had to get it out.

A hand fell onto my shoulder, and I looked up to see Musa looking into my eyes. They were filled with remorse. She had made her choice – the right one. "But-" suddenly, Musa stopped mid-sentence. She and I both looked up to see Tecna, who had come out of and rejoined the circle next to her roommate. The bright pink-haired fairy whispered something in her ear, at which, after about a minute or so of listening, Musa's eyes lit up, followed by a furious nodding of her head. "Do you think that'll work, Tec?"

"I believe so, but it's not guaranteed. Statistically speaking, 44.6% versus 55.4%."

"I'll try it." Musa walked back over to Riven, who handed her the glimmering seashell box.

"What did you tell her, Tec?" I whispered the question to Tecna as we all followed the dark blue-black-haired fairy to where the five of them first found me not ten minutes earlier.

"You'll see." I wanted to ask her further about what this meant, but Musa's voice came in a few seconds after she whispered this to me.

"I've made my decision."

The Guardian of Sirenix asked the girl before her, "what will your wish be, Musa?" We all stood there, hanging on every word they said.

"I wish…I wish for all those who have been taken from us unjustly and unfairly to be given back their life."

I saw a small smile develop on the Guardian of Sirenix's face. "Excellent wish, my dear." The Guardian of Sirenix disappeared into the box, with it disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

A moment passed, and nothing occurred. Then another…then another…then another… In total, about a minute went by before anyone spoke.

"So…" Riven, being the impatient person he is, broke the silence, hoping to get a sense of what exactly did (or, rather, _did not_) occur.

Just as suddenly as Musa's Sirenix box appeared and disappeared, two bright lights materialized out of thin air. We all backed away due to its intensity and shielded our eyes. Just in case, the guys made their way next to us, hands touching the tops of their weapons, and we were in formation to transform in case of it being a less-than-welcomed guest (after what we've been through, we are not taking any chances). I squinted in between my fingers, and saw an obscured figure emerging from the left light. It was petite…female, probably…but that was all I could determine from it. As the light faded out, I got a better look – the person was, indeed, female, with dark blue-black hair, half in a ponytail on the back of her head, the other half ending at her jawline. Her clothing was simple; the orange, sleeveless, midriff-bearing top with a silver necklace attached to the shirt, a pendant detailing the outline of a red oval hanging from it. Her solid orange, ankle-length skirt with a slit on the left side of the dress had a small silver belt tied together in a bow at the middle. With her orange-strapped sandal-like heels, I'd estimate her to be about a few inches shorter than me.

Wispy bangs framed her milky-white skin, her royal-purple eyes holding a kind, yet confused expression. Then, she looked around to us, studying us one by one until she came to Musa; she, too, was staring intently at her, as if mesmerized by the figure that had just emerged. I looked at both, not exactly sure what was going on, but held my breath in accordance with the other girls' actions. Suddenly, Musa ran up to the figure and embraced her – we all simultaneously let out our breath, though I couldn't really tell why. I hadn't ever seen this figure in my life, yet the way Musa embraced her…I couldn't put my finger on it, but it felt right.

And, then, it came to me. "Is this-"

"-Musa's mother." Flora, who had come behind me to whisper this into my ear, finished my sentence as I gasped at the realization. She leaned back towards my ear and added, "Matlin." How couldn't I have gotten it before – I mean, they look exactly like one another (except for hair length and eye color) – I can't believe I did not realize that.

"Mom…" Musa didn't hold back her voice, nor her tears, while leaning on her mother's shoulders.

"My little girl…I've…I have missed you so much."

"Me, too…" A few moments later, she backed up, and they looked each other in the eye. "B-but…but, h-h-how?"

"Your wish, sweetie – it worked." No more audible words were exchanged. They just stood there, hugging one another as we all looked at the scene with glee; after a few minutes, we all moseyed over to them and a group hug ensued. For a moment, I felt sad, still being without my beloved Nabu, but seeing them so happy washed those feelings all away.

"Um, guys?" Stella's voice interrupted the sweet moment. She got no response.

"Um…guys…there's, like, kind of something you need to see…" She was still trying to get our attention; however, we weren't listening.

"GIRLS!" Stella's voice rang out in throughout the forest, causing most of us to look at her.

Our musically-talented friend reluctantly answered, just barely turning away from her mother to ask, "what, Stel?"

She answered with a gesture – her hand was outstretched, the perfectly-manicured fingers pointing like a laser beam at another pillar of light that had formed not fifteen feet from where Matlin had come. This time, I did not cover my eyes, as I was now somewhat accustomed to it. I struggled, however, to see who it was – from the muscular build, it had to be a man…tall, maybe a half-foot more so than me…but, again, that was all I could tell from the eclipsed figure. The sight took away everyone's attention, even that of the newly-reunited family members, away from the previous scene and to the stream of light. Wait, more details were being revealed…his skin was dark…he wore sandals on his feet…and his clothes had long sleeves, and was gold…with…gold accents…and…his hair was…the same…dark…braided…hair… _It's – no, it can't be, I…I can't let myself think it might be…_I gasped, my hands coming to the sides of my face, as his full image came into view. The exact same clothes, the exact same hair, the exact same eyes…and his mile-wide smile. It _is_ him.

It's Nabu.

I did not take another second to delay; rather, I ran right up to him and hugged him as tight and fast as I could. He chuckled, and it was the voice – _his_ voice. The voice I had been hearing in my head since the day he had left me, the same voice I wished, yet did not think, I would hear again. It couldn't be true, it was just too surreal…I must be dreaming. But, no, I am not. I looked into those eyes – those large, xxxx orbs of pure kindness, and forgiveness, and cheekiness, and love. I could look into those eyes all day, but I rather did the one thing I had wanted to do since that dreadful day: I kissed him. And, man, did it feel like everything had come together in the world in a perfect, serene moment of blissful love. He kissed back, and we stayed like that in full view of our friends and Matlin for about five minutes or so (I was too caught up in the many moments to count). I didn't care – no, I _couldn't_ care – that the others or Matlin could see, or that this basically went against everything I believed in, or that he probably had no idea what was going on whatsoever, or even that I heard a suspicious rustle in the bushes around the clearing. I just needed to get out the emotions. Eventually, we stopped the public display of affection long enough to take in the faces of our friends – all but Musa's and Tecna's were categorized by one word – shock. Pure and utter shock. My face, too, conveyed the feeling. I looked to Musa, who was now back in her mother's arms.

"B-but, how?" I asked the question to the dark blue-black-haired fairy; however, she just shrugged. Her line of sight turned behind her, and a telltale cough via the musically-centered fairy caused a head of bright pink hair come forward (once Musa took the girl's arm and pulled her forward a bit).

"Well," Tecna started, all eyes now on her, awaiting her response, "I thought that maybe, if you worded the wish right, you'd be able to get back both your mother, Musa, _**and**_ Nabu." She tried to further explain after seeing our reactions to her vagueness, "I reasoned that by saying in one wish that she wanted to bring back all those lost unfairly, it _might_ just be enough to bend the rules and allow _both_ people to come back to life. This, of course, was based on the fact that Musa's mother was taken by illness suddenly and Nabu died for a just cause, but when he could have been brought back, he was not due to Ogron's maliciousness and misdeeds." We all looked at her with a sense of comprehension.

"But," I turned back to Musa, a tint of surprise on my voice, "how could you take such a risk? If it didn't work, then you could have wasted your wish and not brought either back."

She smiled and walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I knew it was a chance I just had to take." I looked to her, then to her mother, and then to Nabu. I stood here in his arms, his head towering above me and his eyes looking into mine with a loving gaze. Before, I was wrong – _now_, everything is right in the world.

I ran up to Musa and gave her a hug. I whispered into her ear, low enough so only Musa would hear, "thank you…just, thank you so much."

She whispered a bit louder to compensate for the fact that I do not have supersonic hearing, "You're welcome. It's good to have you both back." I smiled at her, and we looked towards the others; Nabu was being hugged and questioned by the guys, who I'm sure were thrilled he was back, and the girls were dispersed between the both groups, most hugging Matlin at the moment. We both looked at one another and smiled; exchanging a phrase and agreeing nods, we both walked up to Tecna and hugged her moments after she sensed our presence behind her and turned around. At first, she stumbled backward a few feet, not prepared for it, but after a few seconds she relaxed. She whispered into Tecna's ear, "Sometimes, I don't know how you do stuff like that under pressure, Tec."

Just as she was about to answer, Stella pulled away from the group, saying in an even cheerier tone than usual, "Hey guys, how about we rejoin the party, now that we're all here?" We all nodded our heads and started to make our way back to the dance floor with a newfound burst of energy. Right as we were about to walk out of the forest adjoined to the Alfea school grounds, however, I stopped momentarily and turned to Nabu. He stopped as a result and turned towards me.

"What is it, Aisha?" Nabu's voice was as soft as the breeze blowing through the night sky as he asked me this.

"I…I just wanted to say…I missed you, Nabu. I know you wouldn't have wanted me to be sad and cry, but…I love you, and…and when you gave up your life for the Earth fairies and Morgana and Roxy, I-"

His pulling me into a tight embrace interrupted my jumbled confession. "Aisha, everything's going to be all right. I am here now, and that's all that matters. I don't care what you may believe, but I don't hold it against you for being sad without me. If it were me in your position, I would have cried for you as well."

"I…I love you, Nabu." I laid my head on his broad chest and looked up at the sky – at its billions and billions of stars glowing tonight. It felt as if they were glowing right on us all, right at this moment in time. I don't know why, but I resulted to quietly sobbing on his clothes, while he just held me, looking up at the glorious sky as well.

"So," Nabu began after a period of silence, gingerly pulling away from the embrace, "what are we going to do about our engagement?"

I thought about it for a moment, then replied, "I think we should wait a little while. That is, until you get settled back into normal life and we get to spend a little time together, free of the Trix, Tritannus, and all the other things the Winx and I have faced in the last year or so."

A queer look overcame my fiancé's face. "Wait, I thought you guys were battling the Wizards of the Black Circle – who exactly is Tritannus? And I thought the Trix were sent away to the Andros royal prisons for all of eternity as punishment for their helping Valtor almost successfully take over the Magical Dimension?"

_Oops, I forgot – he's never met my cousin and our latest adversary Tritannus (good for him). _I chuckled softly at my mistake. "Sorry, Nabu. Here, I'll fill you in later, but right now, let's go and dance!" We finally walked back out to the quad, where everything seemed to be exactly like it was before: Flora and Tecna, still being stubborn as to sitting rather than dancing, were with Helia and Timmy at one of the tables in perfect view of the dance floor. Musa and Riven were on the dance floor with Bloom, Sky, Stella and Brandon, and Matlin was talking to Mrs. Faragonda at the teacher's table. We both walked over to the group on the dance floor and started dancing.

"Hey, where were you guys?" I could barely hear Bloom over the volume of the music playing.

I looked to Nabu and smiled. "Just walking."

"So, Aisha, now that Nabu's back, what about Roy?" I could see out of the corner of my eye Musa elbow Stella in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" _Oh, Stella_.

I perked up when I realized moments later who she was talking about. "Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you guys – I told my parents of Roy's involvement of helping us defeat Tritannus and the Trix, and they promoted him to 'Head of the Royal Aquatic Army of Andros.' Now, he will be the second-in-command when it comes to underwater missions against Andros waters, only below my parents." A series of cheers and congratulations rung out at the announcement. _He deserves it,_ I thought to myself, _not everyone takes a direct part in helping to take down four of the most powerful adversaries of the magical dimension. _

"So…"

I looked questioningly at Stella. "So, what?"

"So, what's going on with you and him?" Musa and Bloom's hands simultaneously came in contact with their foreheads.

"STELLA!" Luckily, the music was loud, else everyone on the dance floor would have heard everyone – that is, bar Nabu, who had no idea what was going on or who Roy was, and myself, who was too accustomed to her frank questioning to be fazed – yelling her name.

"It's okay, guys," I assured them. I had known for a while that this would eventually come out of her mouth – in fact, it would have been unlike Stella if it didn't. "Stella, you and I know we were always just friends…um," my face twisted into one of thought, "…if anything, a great combatant in Nabu's absence."

"So, I guess I have some competition, huh?" Nabu's smile was a mile wide, as true to his personality.

I smiled at my fiancé. _Man, I missed those snarky comments, and that beautiful, cheeky smile of his._ "I love you and only you, Nabu. In fact, I think you and Roy would become great friends."

"Nothing has changed with you guys, I see." We all started laughing at the comment – _true…absolutely true. _Just as the laughter died down, we noticed Mrs. Faragonda walking over to us, dodging dancers to get to our small group.

"GIRLS," she shouted over the extremely loud music, "COULD I TALK TO YOU OVER AT THE TABLES?" We all nodded and followed her over to where the remaining Winx Club members sat.

Ms. Faragonda, now speaking in her normal, cheery, festive voice, added, "hello, girls. Are you enjoying the party?" We all nodded eagerly. Her voice turned a bit more sullen in sound with her next words. "Winx, may I speak to the six of you in my office? I have something urgent I must tell you."

I looked to everyone's faces – they all, like mine, were of pure dread, masked by each of us with either a smile or emotionless expression. "Of course, Ms. F," Stella replied, "What's it about?"

"I…um, I cannot say so out here. Just please come to my office in about ten minutes." She then quickly turned on her heel and made to leave. Right before leaving the girls and guys' presence, however, she turned back around and stated, "oh, and Nabu, good to have you back." She then left, leaving a mysterious air and twelve confused teens behind her.

"B-but, how…" We all stood there a moment awestruck at her nonchalant behavior to Nabu's reappearance in our lives. A moment later, we weren't surprised anymore, for we had all come to a general consensus as to her behavior – _they _were listening to the entire thing.

Flora broke the silence, stating, "I guess we should get going, then."

"How about just one more song," Musa pleaded. "She did say ten minutes, right?" We all slowly nodded our heads in agreement.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Come on!" Bloom's voice urged the rest of the group – along with a little more coaxing – out onto the dance floor. Musa walked up to the DJ booth again, this time taking over the station after whispering something to the DJ.

She turned down the music a bit and spoke into the microphone, saying, "Hey, guys!" The dance floor erupted in claps and roars in response. "This is a little shout-out to all of my peeps! Hope you all like it!" She pulled away from the microphone and, using a little magic, pointed her finger at the equipment and changed the song to another one from our repertoire. She stepped away from the station, allowing the DJ to come back into his space. She started to walk towards us, and we all – even those at first steadfast in the matter – eventually started dancing. Everything was calmer than I could ever remember at that moment; I tried to enjoy the song as long as I could.

When it finally ended, we all left our respective boyfriends with long, gloomy sighs. As we headed to the headmistress's office, no words were exchanged – there was nothing to be said. Bloom knocked on the door; in response, a voice on the other side of the door permitted us to come in.

We all filed into Ms. Faragonda's office, only knowing one thing from our previous experiences in the room – expect nothing _but_ the unexpected. Our eyes fell upon the white-haired woman, gazing outside at the people below from her wall of windows. She turned around unexpectedly, causing a few of us to jump in surprise, and walked over to and sat in her chair.

Mrs. Faragonda was the first to speak. "Girls, I'm so sorry to take you all away from the party-"

"Don't mention it, Mrs. F," Bloom chimed in as she took a breath, "why did you want to talk to us, though?"

Mrs. Faragonda took a deep breath before continuing. "I…there is something I have to tell you girls." We looked to one another in despair. Now that we've defeated Tritannus, what else is there to do? _Ugh, I really hope that she has somewhat-good news coming from this. _

"It seems-" _**CRASH! **_The window behind Mrs. Faragonda's chair shattered into a billion pieces. We all gasped and tried to take cover, something not easily achieved considering very little furniture occupied the room. "**COPERNUS CASTIEL!**" A blue shield came up, encompassing us and our headmistress, just as the glass was about to fall on our bodies. When the glass was done falling on top of the barrier, it was lifted, and we looked up at the damage; the whole window was gone, and in its place, four shadows stood, floating right where a pane of glass stood moments before.

Musa gasped at the sight of them.

Flora nearly fainted between the shattering of the window and the arrival of the unexpected and unwelcomed guests.

Stella screamed so loud, it attracted the looks of everyone below, who were now looking flabbergasted at the scene above them.

Tecna and Bloom stood in battle formation, ready to change at any moment into our Sirenix transformations.

And, as for me, I just stood there, speechless. _No, no, no…this…this cannot be – they can't be here – and, wait, who is the one in the back? There is…there's only s-supposed to be t-th-three of them…_

A voice rang out through the silence, the owner I assumed to be the person in the middle-front of the diamond-formation, its disgust and callous, icy tone ringing for the next minute in my ear. "Hello, Winx – miss us?"


End file.
